Pakistan army 'storms Taliban town'

Army announces strategic win but fighters say they are drawing troops into "a trap".

03 Nov 2009 19:00 GMT

Security was stepped up in the city of Rawalpindi following a blast there on Monday [AFP]

"We are prepared for a long war," Azam Tariq, a spokesman, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

"The areas we are withdrawing from, and the ones the army is claiming to have won, are being vacated by us as part of a strategy. The strategy is to let the army get in a trap, and then fight a long war."

Difficult terrain

Tariq also denied army claims that hundreds of fighters have been killed in the military's campaign.